Sweet Caroline

Well, the time is upon us. Fall of 2012 marks the beginning of the end. Kidding. (Sort of). Three of my very best friends turned 30 this month. They were lucky to be older for so long ( being able to drive, drink legally, etc) it's now my turn to bask in the glory of being the young one!! :-) Ready for it or not, the celebrations are among us! We started on November 10 and will continue until September 30, 2013 when your truly turns the big 30! We had a surprise birthday dinner for one friend, I even stole some awesome pics from her mama to make the birthday girl feel extra special:-). Then, an oyster roast party for the other two. Super fun celebrations to honor my oldest friends:-) hehe;-). Love y'all !!

November 17 marked Collins' NINE month birthday.  *Cue freak out...three more months and I will have a one year old!?!* Colls Bolls, you continue to provide your daddy and me absolute JOY day after day.  Your little smile and laughter is quite infectious, you do this little squeal/laugh thing that is absolutely adorable and brings the biggest smile to my face.  We continue to LOVE putting you in your crib at night and spending a good 10 minutes playing peek-a-boo and simply enjoying your squeals of delight.  That's not to say you are always laughing though...separation anxiety has set in and there are some times when no one else will do but mama or daddy (mostly mama:-) but we won't tell daddy!)  Your little bottom lip will start to poke out and it is just so darn cute I can't help but scoop you up and shower you with kisses. You still  (what did I do to deserve this?) sleep amazingly.  You go down around 8 and sleep until we wake you up during the...

Last Sunday was a glorious day for our family. Our sweet little girl was baptized and all of her family was there to witness it and show support and love. It was such an amazing day and I am forever grateful for all of our family who came to celebrate this special day with us. We hosted a brunch for everyone after church.  It was a bit wild with 30 adults and 15 kids...but such a sweet day that I didn't mind! And you'll have to forgive me, my pictures are out of order, of course. With Pastor Jody. Fall decorations. Beautiful cake that my SIL made.  It was seriously so yummy and was gone within minutes. Food table and some beautiful flowers my second mama made.  We served shrimp and grits casserole, blueberry casserole  breakfast casserole, chicken salad croissants  fruit and biscuits.  It was all so delicious and I owe it all to my amazing mom, mother in law, and second mama Harriett.  I couldn't have done it all without th...

Thanksgiving is such a peaceful holiday for me. It's sort of the calm before the storm...one last chance to soak up "fall" (although the weather is still fall-ish for us a little while longer...once Christmas decorations start coming out, I think winter!) before the chaos of the Christmas season begins. Thanksgiving is so much more laid back and easy going than Christmas...there are no presents to worry about, just simple fellowship with family and loved ones.  Although I think we should be thankful EVERY day of our lives for the amazing blessings that we have, it is cool to have a holiday devoted to just THAT. This year, above all I am so incredibly thankful to God for giving us the most precious gift in the world...being parents to Collins has truly been the best gift of my life. I am also thankful for AMAZING and supportive family and friends, our health and our families health, the ability to provide for our family, and as always, the amazing men and women who p...

Just a little update on our new child care situation. I LOVE it. And so does Collins! Win win! She's safe, she's loved and she sleeps for 3-4 hours per day! Woohoo! When my mom first met our new child care provider she said " what a blessing to have met her." I couldn't agree more. She gets down on the floor and plays with the babes, the older kids love little C and entertain her, and little C's eyes light up when. "miss zeezy" starts talking to her which makes me feel so, so good. I am so happy we made the switch. And am added bonus? Unlike traditional church child care, when she isn't there we don't pay! Yay for holidays!! Picture is from Collins' 9 mo check up on Monday! Little booger:-)

Mikey and I were in for quite a treat for our first Halloween in the 'burbs. We had heard from several people how crazy our neighborhood gets on Halloween night...so much so that when my Uncle (who lives nearby) heard we were moving there he asked if we bought stock in candy! I've already mentioned how much the hood got into decorating... but we were still anxious to see the Halloween trick or treating excitement first hand. I was out of candy by 8:15. MAJOR FAIL. womp womp. I had TONS, or so I thought. Several HUGE bags of the good stuff and my SIL brought over all of their leftover candy from her party. Of course, we did do the whole "please just take two" and left the candy outside...but who wanted to sit at the house all night? Not I! It was crazy chaos, but we loved it. By the time we were winding down with the little ones in tow...the place was really getting packed with the bigger kids. All the parents were out riding around on their golf carts and ...

Our Supper Club got into the Halloween spirit and it was TOO fun. I was kinda LAME...oops, but I was much more concerned that week about getting Collins' costume together that mine was put on the back burner. Mikey went as Arkansas old football coach Bobby Petrino, and I was his mistress, Jessica Dorrel...AFTER the motorcycle accident. Like, I said...we ran out of time to be creative. And HE was the one that got hurt bad falling off the motorcycle, not her! :-) I did have some blood running down my leg and on my face though...I know, I know...I got out easy! McKayla and Kanye.  I mean, Kanye was AWESOME.  When I first walked up I had to do a double take! Wayne and Garth.  The whole gang. Again. Kanye and Kim K.  HILARIOUS.  Look at that bootay!  (it's fake, no worries!) Doin' their thing. Porter was the "tan" lady from NJ. Our cute hostesses! I was trying to show off my blood, but I just wound up looking like I was pregnant s...